1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an auger for cutting a fishing hole through ice, which also serves as a carrying case for ice fishing apparatus such as lines, poles, bait and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The sport of ice fishing presents many challenges to the fisherman. Among these is the drilling of suitable holes in the ice through which the fisherman can extend his or her lines. Historically, ice fishing holes were chopped through the ice using an axe, pole, shovel or similar general purpose tool. There are also, however, several known ice augers available to the ice fisherman, which are much more convenient to use than chopping holes and produce a neat round hole with minimal effort. The ice auger can have a helical web wound around a solid shaft, resembling a woodworking drill bit, the web carrying away the ice shaved from the hole by at least one radial cutting bit. This type of tool requires the user to expend some unnecessary effort because the ice must be cut clear across the hole to be opened, using a cutting edge extending at least across the full radius of the hole. The hole is also left with slush and/or ice chips floating on the surface.
Tubular shaped ice augers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,955,805-Jones and 1,857,585-Brooks. In each of these coring-type augers, cutting means are disposed only at the end of a tube whose outer surface is encircled by a helical screw web for carrying ice chips away from the hole. In use, the tube is arranged perpendicular to the plane of the ice and is rotated, thereby shaving away an annulus of ice and freeing a solid cylindrical plug or core. Brooks provides for temporarily engaging and lifting the severed core of ice from the hole, by closing an air passageway above the core and through the tube.
An ice fisherman may need to travel some distance and to carry a variety of items as needed for fishing, for consumption while fishing, and to keep warm. Unlike warm weather fishing, a plurality of holes and lines are typically maintained while ice fishing, often by means of fish-triggered line tending devices, for example the popular "Tip-Up" devices, which are placed at each hole. Ice augers are convenient for hole cutting, but can be bulky and awkward to carry onto the ice, particularly together with a number of Tip-Ups, a lunch, bait, extra clothing, etc.
To overcome problems with too much to carry, a compact or even collapsible ice drilling tool may be considered desirable. U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,008-Isaksson discloses a collapsible bit and brace type ice drilling tool. The crank handle portion folds back and thereby allows the user to carry the entire tool by the same handle which is turned while drilling. The bit is of the twist-drill type, with a solid shaft and helical web wound thereon. The central shaft of the bit or auger portion is pivotable at a knuckle having an axis disposed at an angle relative to the plane of the handle, which is U-shaped in the manner of a bit-and-brace handle. However, even with a collapsible drill, there is still a need to reduce or somehow accommodate the considerable amount of apparatus to be carried out onto the frozen lake or stream. Heretofore there has been no ice cutting apparatus which addresses the larger problem of transporting the necessary materials for ice fishing. Of course there is likewise no device for maximizing the efficiency of a device for ice cutting which also defines a carrying case for the apparatus used in ice fishing.